Letters: Climate change and Brexit - a lot of tosh on both sides
SIR - Now that the climate change debate has replaced Brexit, we are beginning to be bombarded with all sorts of facts and figures, some of which are no doubt accurate.
But like Brexit there is an awful lot of tosh being thrown at us by so called experts from the believers’ and non-believers’ camp, once again confusing the general populace as to what is true and what is not.
I am not a scientist nor have any qualifications in climatology - or any other 'ology' for that matter - but as an 'older' person, I would like to throw my hat into the ring with what I hope are common sense observations.
Most importantly, I would like to remind people that when we look to the heavens on a clear night, we can see billions of stars and galaxies which makes us realize that in the grand scheme of the universe we are very, very small beer.
It should also remind us that beautiful planet Earth will be our only home for many decades to come and that we should be nurturing it for future generations, not destroying it through our quest for greed and power.
So let's put things into perspective. Any figures quoted are approximate but irrefutable. Planet Earth is 25,000 miles in circumference, it is also 7,900 miles in diameter.
To put clarity into that, if you drive from Land’s End to John O Groats in Scotland, you will have driven 825 miles, come back and you will have covered a total of 1,650 miles in the round trip. Do that round trip only 15 times and you will have driven the equivalent of driving around the world.
That in itself is quite sobering, but this is more so. There is no defining line between the end of our planet's atmosphere and outer space. However, as far as human beings are concerned, our breathable atmosphere without the use of apparatus is around 28,000-30,000 feet, let’s say 7.5 miles.
Look on a map and you will appreciate just how little air we actually have to breath and yet governments the world over allow us to dump billions of tons of 'rubbish' into our atmosphere, seas, lakes and lands with little or no action of trying to harmonise with nature and obtain the state of equilibrium that life as we know it needs to survive.
Climate change has existed since the world was formed and on a cyclical basis with varying degrees of intensities (as a clean-up of unwanted rubbish, maybe?).
Even if we are due for another change, what we are doing now will only serve to speed up the inevitable and to our detriment.
Do we really care? I doubt it until it is too late and why do I say that?
Put simply, Man is an arrogant and greedy animal and rarely learns by past mistakes.
Deja vu here we come?...
John Walsh, Address supplied
